He asked for a wave and got a cheeky two-fingered salute from the world’s greatest rugby referee.

Now Gareth Duncan is having Nigel Owens’ assistant referee’s jersey from Saturday night’s Ireland-Australia clash at the Aviva Stadium winging its way back to the Emerald Isle from Wales after this selfie sent Twitter into overdrive.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup final referee, who officiated in Cardiff Blues’ Guinness Pro12 defeat to Connacht in Galway on Friday night, was called up as a late replacement for touchline duty in Dublin 24 hours later after one of the assistant referees was taken ill.

And in his pre-match warm-up ritual Owens was asked by a group of Irish fans for a wave to help frame a selfie photo.

Read More

“You seen the picture doing social media, have you, with the boys shouting ‘Give us a wave, Nige’, and I give the Vs? All in good fun, though, and they all laughed. Good rugby banter and how it should be,” said the popular Welsh referee.

“I’m trying to get hold of him and will post him my match day ref jersey from the game for being such a great sport, and the timing of the picture.

“If I can find out who he is, I can get jersey sorted and signed to him then.”

Owens has since tracked down the Ulster fan on social media and Gareth Duncan can expect a jersey in the post any time soon.